Just Say It!
by Karen Hikari
Summary: "Just say it!" the teenager screamed, slamming the car door shut. "Just say that you don't want me here!" After The Titan's Curse, Annabeth is back to living with her father, but things do not seem to be going very well . . .


This was an idea that I was very interested in writing, since I first read about Annabeth's diffucult relationship with her mortall family, specially with her stepmother, who seems very worried about her in TTC.

So this is it. I hope you like it.

_Just Say It! _

"Just say it!" the teenager screamed, slamming the car door shut.

"Annabeth!" her father yelled back. "Stop it right now!"

"Stop what?" she asked. "Saying the truth?"

"No! The exact opposite!" her father scolded, as he got out of the car too. "Stop saying things that aren't true!"

"C'mon, father! You know I'm right!" she said, getting madder with each word. "I'm standing here, in the middle of San Francisco telling all the monsters of the city to please come eat me meanwhile I endanger your mortal sons and wife!"

"Annabeth, you know that–"

"That what? That you wished I wasn't here? Yes! Yes I know!" she screamed. "I perfectly know that you wished I didn't even exist or that I wasn't a demigod or that I simply disappeared!" she screamed.

"Please, for a moment try to–" Frederick tried, but there was no use.

"No! You know what? You know what?" she asked, taking a sudden decision. "I'm tired of trying! I'm tired!" she emphasized. "I'm going back to the camp! Tomorrow in the morning I'm going back to the camp!" she screamed.

"Annabeth!" he called, but his daughter had already turned her back on him and entered the house, running.

He sighed tiredly. «Not this again» he thought «Please not this again.»

She entered to her room running and slammed the door shut.

She was so mad, so mad. Yet, she couldn't tell the reason for her anger. She was mad at her father, at her stepmother, at her half-siblings, at her mother, at herself. She couldn't even point out why she was so frustrated and so angry, but she was.

Her father didn't want her there, she was a constant threat for his family, always attracting monsters only she could see and fight. And she couldn't blame him for that.

She was indeed putting his children, his wife and him in danger. She was constantly putting his family in danger. But, she wished he would remember for a moment that she was part of his family too. Or maybe she was not after all.

She'd passed around six years of her life alone, ignoring her father's messages, trying to obviate the fact that she actually had a living, mortal father, two half-brothers and a stepmother, and now that she had come back, trying to recover the broken bonds, it seemed a titanic chore; an impossible chore. «Jeez, it was way easier to hold up the sky» she thought bitterly.

That was why she was so angry. Because even if she tried, she would never be what her father wanted, or what he needed in his perfect family.

The things that usually made her appear strong were of no use in her father's house. Her ability at fighting, at strategy, at archery, her knowledge at history and architecture were useless because her father didn't want a fighter. He only wanted a normal, mortal daughter.

He only wanted everything that she could not be.

Right then, someone knocked at her door.

"Annabeth, can I come in?" a feminine voice asked.

"Great" she muttered under her breathe. "The only thing I was missing."

It was her stepmother, an Asiatic woman that her father had married when she'd been five years old.

The hinges cracked as the door slowly opened and the woman entered.

"Not you too" she muttered, trying to lower her voice.

"Annabeth, please" she said "We live together, we must try to communicate."

"Not for much" the girl replied, defiantly.

"W-what?" She asked, not knowing what her stepdaughter was talking about.

"I'm heading back to the camp in the morning." She informed sternly. "We won't be living together for much."

"But, Annabeth, that's too soon." She replied quietly. "You've just been here for a month."

"It's been enough." Annabeth answered in a challenging tone. "At least a family is waiting for me back there."

"Annabeth that's . . ." She started, her voice trembling. "Your family is here."

"It doesn't seem so" she replied menacingly.

"Annabeth, umm, dear, please you can't go . . ." She stuttered, with no clue of what to say but knowing she had to say something. "We should, umm, wait till tomorrow and maybe . . ."

"Just say it!" Annabeth screamed, raging on again. "You want me out of here as much as I want to be away! You hate me just for existing!" She accused, her voice becoming louder and louder. "Don't you come and try to act like the worried stepmother now because it just doesn't fit you! You and him! You both wished that he'd never met Athena and never had me because I'm the only thing that ruins your perfect life!"

"Annabeth! Stop!" She screamed, with a decided voice this time. "What do you think you're saying?"

"Just the truth, Danya!" Annabeth replied harshly. "You want me gone, I want to leave, just say it! It ain't that hard to tell me something I already know!" She yelled, her voice breaking out a little at the end.

"Annabeth, please, don't say that." She tried "Neither your father nor me think that."

"In the name of Zeus, Danya!" She screamed, even angrier at her stepmother's attempts to persuade her of her mistake. "By just being here I endanger you and your precious sons! You know that!" She yelled. "You wished you didn't have to stand me! All of you wish that! All of you would be better off without me!" She accused, looking at her with flaming eyes

"Annabeth, please stop it, please" Danya said, with a tiny voice, almost pleadingly.

"I don't stop nothing!" Annabeth screamed, walking forward, making a fuss and printing strength in each movement of her hands. Danya could just walk back, looking her with a pained expression. "You know it as well as I do! I'm-going-back-to-the-camp!" She screamed. As soon as Danya was out of the doorframe Annabeth slammed the door closed.

Just a couple of seconds after that, she heard the rattle of her heals as she walked away from her room.

When she couldn't hear anything anymore, all her anger seemed to slip away. She gripped the handle of the door so tightly her knuckles went white.

Dry, painful sobs started filling her throat.

"Why did I even come back?" she murmured, as she let herself fall against the doorframe, hugging her legs to her chest.

She felt so miserable in that moment, crying curled up in the cold floor, the prideful and sarcastic demigod gone, replaced by a frightened girl.

She closed her eyes shut, in a powerless tentative to stop the tears, but everything seemed useless. She couldn't help it as even more whimpers climbed her throat and came out of her mouth.

How badly she wished someone to be there for her. The old Luke, the one that could be trusted, or Thalia, or Percy or Chiron. Just someone that actually cared for her. Was it asking too much?

Knowing that everyone that cared for her was away only printed even more pain to her sobs and renewed her crying.

"Coming back was a mistake" she whispered "Everything was a mistake."

She couldn't recall falling asleep, but sometime after, she woke up, rubbing her eyes and with a headache. She pulled herself up and walked to the dressing table, to look herself at the mirror. She grimaced. Gods, her eyes were so swollen.

She stared back at her gray eyes, sighing.

If she really was leaving next morning she should probably start working up with her luggage, but she was simply too tired.

"Athena" she muttered, still looking at her reflection, right into her eyes. "I wished I knew what to do."

Right then, she heard a knocking in her door. Suddenly, all the weakness and pain she felt were gone, replaced by anger again.

"Father! Danya! Go away!" she yelled, turning to look at the closed door. "I don't want to talk to you!"

"It ain't them, Annie" one of her brothers said timidly. She repressed a tired and mad sigh.

"What?" she answered, trying to hide the angry tone in her voice.

"Can we come in?" the same voice questioned

She rolled her eyes as she walked to the door and opened it, her left hand on her hip as her right gripped the handle.

"What do you want?" she asked, piercing them with her gaze.

They seemed intimidated by her strong gaze, but Mathew walked forward, gripping his brother's hand.

"Are you leaving?" he asked a little shyly.

"Yes" she mumbled harshly.

"But Father said you would stay, that you would be living with us" Bobby replied, avoiding her eyes.

"Yes, but I . . . em" she doubted. "I left some pendants at the camp and I must go back" she said, getting more impatient with each passing second about talking to them.

It took her a little to realize what she felt, but when she identified it, she was astonished. She was nervous. Talking to her eight-years-old half-brothers made her nervous. She couldn't believe it.

"Will you be back?" Bobby asked.

"I don't know" she said, without really knowing what to do next. "Maybe."

"Mom said you could stay for as long as you wanted" Mathew said defiantly, looking at her right in the eye.

"Yeah, sure" she muttered tiredly, almost ironically, breaking eye contact. "But they're expecting me at the camp" she sighed "Boys, it's late, go to sleep" she commanded "I'll see you in the morning" she said, ending the conversation as she started to close the door.

"I'd like it if you stayed, Annie" Bobby said. She forced a smile as she finished closing the door.

She heard their steps as they walked away from her room and headed to their own. She leaned her back on the door, looking at the figure that the mirror reflected.

She looked tired and weak, maybe defeated. She didn't look like the daughter of Athena, or like a fearless warrior, let alone someone that had been in Olympus and in the Underworld, she just looked defeated and lonely, like an adolescent that had just fought with her parents and now regretted it. She simply looked exactly like what she felt–completely forsaken.

She was too tired to even try something with the luggage. She made herself change her clothes into some old pajamas and went to sleep right after.

The next morning she woke up exactly at six o'clock. She really wished to stay in bed, but she knew she wouldn't be able to fall asleep again, due to what she pulled herself out and made herself start gathering her clothes and getting them in the two suitcases she'd brought with her.

When she was done arranging her things she made her bed and cleaned the room she'd been staying in.

When she was done, the room was shinny; perfectly cleaned and organized. «As if I'd never even been here» she thought, a spasm of pain crossing her chest.

She denied, moving her head to the sides furiously, trying to push the thought away.

She gripped the suitcases and left the room, walking through the house in silence, before leaving the suitcases in the living room, next to the front door and heading to the kitchen to eat something.

She wanted to part from her father, but she doubted whether if that was the wisest.

She was staying nevertheless.

She sat in the living room, with a book about the Punic Wars in front of her eyes, even though she wasn't really paying attention to the reading.

It was around nine o'clock when the other four members of the Chase family finally appeared in the living room.

She tried to force a smile, just like her father and Danya did, while Mathew and Bobby looked first to their parents and then to their sister, confused expressions on their faces.

"Good morning" Frederick said sternly.

"Good morning" Annabeth replied with a strangled voice, even if the morning didn't seem so 'good'.

"Kids, go play outside please" Danya ordered "We need to talk to your sister."

"But, mother–" Mathew started to argue.

"Outside" She repeated, sending him a threatening glance.

Both boys left with no other word.

"It seems you really are leaving, Annabeth" Frederick said, pointing at her suitcases.

"Yes" she answered, quietly, avoiding their eyes.

"At least have your breakfast here, Annabeth" Danya offered silently.

"I already ate something. Thank you" she muttered.

Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed to tense up, and the air seemed heavier, just breathing became something difficult.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Maybe that pressure she felt in her chest was just due to the fact that she was going back to the camp again, after another horrible stay at her father's home, or maybe they were just her ideas, but when you live in constant danger, like any demigod, you learn to relay on your instincts.

Danya and her father continued talking, ignorant to her racing heart and her hard breathing. They were saying someone about 'family' and 'home', but she could only see their moving lips, unable to pay attention to their words.

«Think, Annabeth. Think» she said to herself «What can be wrong?» A second voice in her head answered her sarcastically: «Maybe the right thing to ask is 'What isn't wrong?'» «Oh, please!» she said to herself «Don't do this right now! What is wrong?»

Suddenly, she heard another voice in her head, one that wasn't her own. «Outside, Annabeth. Outside» it said. She gasped for air violently. She recognized that voice. That was Athena's voice.

Outside. What was outside?

Abruptly, the pieces fell into their places. She gasped even more violently than before. The boys! Bobby and Mathew were outside!

She didn't even remember ordering herself to move, she just found herself pushing her parents out of her way and running to the front door, opening it violently.

Mathew and Bobby were together, standing next to some rose bushes, with apparently nothing out of normality. The thing was that they weren't alone. Mathew was talking to a young man, as Bobby told his brother loudly that they should go back home.

It wasn't hard for her to realize that that man was no human.

From the corner of its lips two huge fangs were easy to see, and a giant green tail kept swirling around it.

A monster. Maybe a Manticore or a basilisk.

Suddenly, that thing raised its tail, pointing directly at Mathew.

«Quick! A shield!» she thought, looking around frantically. All she could see was a metal dustbin lid. She grimaced. It was better than nothing.

She took it and ran, while she pulled her dagger from her waist, pointing it at the beast.

"Don't you even try it!" she screamed as she interfered between the monster and her brother, making the huge tail crash against the cold metal of the dustbin lid.

"So you are here, demigod" the monster hissed. "The boy said that you'd left."

"Was about to" she replied menacingly.

"Annie!" Bobby screamed, fear, surprise and gratitude mixing in his voice.

"Kids, go home right now" she commanded, her eyes focused on the beast's, shielding her brothers with her own body.

Right then, Danya and Frederick appeared in the door.

"Annabeth!" Danya screamed, looking around, utterly confused. For all she could see, there was just a young man standing in front of her sons and stepdaughter, but Annabeth seemed very mad, and Danya was pretty sure that she was holding out her dagger, while Bobby and Mathew seemed terrified. "Frederick! What is she doing?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"A monster" he replied, his eyes focused on his daughter.

"What?" she questioned "What did you say?"

Suddenly, Frederick entered the house again and ran upstairs, leaving his terrified wife outside, unable to see what was going on due to the mist.

Annabeth saw the greenish eyes of the beast and felt its fetid breath right on her face, but didn't even flinch. Her mind was already racing, trying to find a way to take that thing down, without causing a big commotion and without endangering her brothers or parents.

The changes in its physiognomy after realizing it was a monster came very fast. Its nose and mouth started enlarging, until they became just one; and its arms approached its torso while its legs seemed to draw nearer to each other, until they merged into just one and only large body. A snake body, same that started growing, until it reached the enormous size of six meters. Its skin color changed into a pale green and through its yellow fangs a huge snake-like tongue came hissing.

A basilisk.

Venomous, aggressive, dangerous creatures, one of which was in the front yard of her house, as she shielded her eight-years-old brothers behind her. What a great way to start a day.

"Kids" she repeated "Go with your mother. Fast."

Apparently, Danya heard her because right then she called her children's attention too.

"Bobby! Mathew!" she screamed, not even slightly sure about was going on. "Get out of your sister's way right now!"

Being called by their mother they instantly ran to the door, next to her, scared and confused.

"Now it's just me and you, girl" the basilisk hissed.

"It'll be just me soon enough" Annabeth replied emotionlessly.

It wasn't the first time she fought with a basilisk, but the one before she'd been accompanied by Thalia, Luke and Grover. Two armed demigods and a satyr that could see through the mist, instead of just freaking out.

Her mind was trying to figure out a strategy without driving the mortals' attention to what she was doing, but it seemed too hard, given that they were practically in the middle of the street. She had to work fast.

She dropped the dustbin lid to the floor and held the dagger with both hands, gripping it tightly.

The beast raised around two meters above from the ground, with other four settled down, jaws open, huge sharp yellowish fangs just forty centimeters away from her face.

She was breathing hard, her eyes looking at the ones from the basilisk defiantly, her gray pupils now a stormy black.

She started moving, slowly, with a racing heart. First, she stepped back, and then she started walking to her right. The basilisk followed her movements patiently, its tongue appearing and disappearing in its mouth.

"You won't escape, demigod" he said through its teeth. "Don't even try to."

She wasn't trying to escape in truth, just to draw the monster's attention away from her family.

The easiest way to finish that thing up was to cut its neck, but her dagger was simply too short for aiming that high.

She could try jumping and gripping the back of its neck and stabbing from there, but she feared its tail, that swirled around the beast.

She didn't want to recognize it, but she was scared. She was not sure whether if she could beat that thing on her own. She needed someone else. Someone to support her, to protect her and to cover her back.

She bit her lower lip. She couldn't be thinking on those things.

If only she had her invisible cap.

But thinking of impossible things was useless. She should try to solve what was happening with what she had. At least it wasn't the Hydra what had appeared . . .

The basilisk made its first movement: it jumped forward, trying to grip her with its powerful bite, but Annabeth stepped back rapidly, while the beast's jaws closed exactly where her head had been seconds ago.

She moved to the left, and the basilisk zigzagged as it followed her, opening and closing its jaws, trying to get her, but biting just air by inches.

She continued moving backwards, with its horrible snout just centimeters away from her face. Suddenly, she realized what it was doing–it was surrounding her, and she was falling right into its trap.

Soon, there would be nowhere else to go. Nowhere but its mouth.

Her dreaded moment came: as she tried to step backwards she set foot on the giant snake. She bent down as fast as she could to avoid the next bite, but the monster was coming closer, and there was nothing she could do to prevent that from happening.

Her heart was beating so fast it made her chest hurt. The only thing she could smell was its horrible breath just slightly away from her face. The only thing she could see was the blood-lust and the hate in the monster's eyes. She started dreading she wouldn't be able to take it down. She gasped for air violently. She feared that those eyes would be the last thing she would ever see.

Trying to get a hold of herself, she started talking under her breath. "C'mon, Annabeth" she muttered "You knew this could happen" her breath got stuck in her throat, to the point she could hardly continue talking, but her voice was something known, something to cling to and she didn't want to lose that. "Please!" she murmured "Get a grip of yourself and kill this stupid thing!"

The beast was nearing her, closer and closer, just inches away from her. She suddenly realized she was unable to move, frozen in her spot.

Maybe this was her end after all.

Her racing heart almost stopped at that thought. After everything, after finding the Light, after crossing the Sea of Monsters and returning safely to the camp, after freeing Artemis and literally carrying the weight of the world over her shoulders this was the end. A basilisk would kill her in the front yard of her father's house. Pathetic.

She closed her eyes and bit her tongue, waiting.

The beast smiled, pleasured. It had seemed much harder at first glance, but in the end that girl was just a weak demigod.

Just when it was opening its powerful jaws to bite her, something whizzed next to her left ear, something that sounded heavy and that hit the beast's neck. She opened her eyes rapidly. A rock. It'd been a rock.

"Leave my daughter alone, you monster!" Frederick screamed, his voice sounding mad and shaky.

"Father!" she murmured, surprised. Due to her current situation she wasn't able to turn to see him, but she ached to.

"Didn't you just hear me?" Frederick continued, throwing another rock at the basilisk, since it was still facing Annabeth. "I told you to leave her alone!"

The basilisk lazily groaned and turned around, looking at Frederick with hateful eyes.

Frederick Chase had just reappeared, still wearing his old pajamas and his ridiculous slippers. Through his glasses, his eyes shone, challenging the beast to attack Annabeth. In his shaky hands, he awkwardly hold up a bronze sword.

"Frederick!" Danya screamed, completely panicked about the necessity of her husband's sword. "What-? Where-?" still, both Annabeth and Frederick ignored her stuttering, too focused on the basilisk.

Slowly, the beast started moving, heading to Frederick this time, meandering menacingly, its tongue coming in and out of its horrible mouth.

"I don't like it when mortals interfere in my affairs" it warned, making it a menace for Frederick to stay there. "It would have been better for both of you if you'd just let me eat her!" he hissed.

"Never" Frederick whispered, and though he said it to himself, Annabeth was able to hear him.

Her heart started beating even faster than before. Maybe it wasn't only because of the closeness of that monster.

She knew she had to kill the basilisk and safe her father. She knew her father had just bought her a few precious seconds by risking his own life. She had to stop that beast. She knew–she just wasn't able to move.

She was frozen, her feet glued to the ground, her hands still holding the dagger up, but paralyzed.

The basilisk continued nearing her father, who held the sword high, gripping it tightly, but with a confused expression in his features.

"Danya!" he yelled, with an unsteady voice. "Get the children out!"

The boys were now behind their mother, holding one of her hands each. Danya looked around, worriedly. All she could see was Frederick and Annabeth holding their weapons tightly at someone that looked like a good man, not like a monster. But she trusted both Annabeth and Frederick . . .

Judging by the faces of her husband and stepdaughter, something was going very wrong. She didn't know what to do or what to expect.

«Annabeth! Move!» She heard, as she gasped for air. It was that voice again–Athena's voice. It was a stern voice, a strict one, but it hid something that seemed concern.

Suddenly, she regained the control of her limbs. She had to kill the basilisk.

She'd asked for someone to protect her and there it was–her father. She'd missed her team, not realizing there was someone else she could team up with.

She held the dagger tightly and rapidly approached the basilisk's neck, aiming for its throat.

She was almost there when it turned to face her.

"Don't go so fast, demigod" it hissed, menacingly and sending a bite in her direction. She leaned down to avoid it and moved backwards, walking right to the monster's neck, her back turned to it until she hit the side of the basilisk's neck.

In a fast movement she stuck the dagger to her left side, in its neck. The beast groaned angrily and moved its tail with strength. Something hit her right arm, probably the very same tail she'd feared since the beginning. A deep pain appeared in her arm, but she tried to draw her mind from it and pulled the dagger out before stabbing again and repeating the movement.

She stuck it once, twice, three times. The pain in her arm continued to intensify, but she ignored it and stabbed once more.

The beast growled, but then became stone-hard and transformed into dust. She continued stabbing the air nevertheless.

She was still aiming for the empty air when her father her.

"Annabeth" he said, dropping the sword to the floor.

They met gazes and froze, breathing hard. Fredrick tried to force a smile, but failed miserable, just like Annabeth, who was trying to keep her surprise to herself.

In that moment, Danya appeared from behind Frederick, her features contortioned by fear and concern.

"Oh, my god! Annabeth! " she screamed, talking very fast as she took Annabeth in her arms. "Oh, dear, you're hurt!" she said. Annabeth froze, surprised by the uncommon touch and by the genuine concern in Danya's voice. The warmness and the gentleness with which she hold her with was something very different from what she was used to feel. Her first thought was to pull away from Danya's embrace, but the warmness that surrounded her, apart from unknown, seemed nice. "Does it hurt too much, Annabeth?" Danya continued, with a hysteric voice. She separated herself from the girl, but left her hands over Annabeth's shoulders.

"I'm-I'm alright" she stuttered, directing her left hand to her right arm, right under her shoulder, to where the pain made her skin prick. When she retired her hand, her fingers were covered in blood. She really was hurt. "It's just a cut" she muttered weakly.

Danya grimaced. "Just a cut? Annabeth, that seems deep!" she stopped, looking as if she were about to say something else but decided it was better not to. Maybe it seemed deep to a mortal like her, but to a demigod like Annabeth . . .

"I'm alright" she repeated "I just-" she sighed, tiredly. "I just need to clean it and dress it" she whispered.

"Clean and dress it, I have it" she replied. "Let's go back home, Annabeth" she said, sending a glance to her father, that stood next to her. Both Annabeth and Frederick nodded.

Danya and Annabeth were the first ones to start walking, Annabeth holding the wound with her left hand, Danya next to her, biting her lower lip in concern, while Frederick walked behind them, sending mortified glances to the place in which the monster had disappeared moments ago.

When they reached the door entrance, Bobby ran to catch up with them and surprisingly enough encircled Annabeth's waist tightly.

"Annie!" he said. "You're bleeding."

"Yes" she muttered, not really knowing how to react to that unexpected physical contact. She slowly let her left arm fall over her brother's head, which was resting on her chest.

"What was that thing, Annie?" he whispered, so quietly that only she listened.

Before she could answer, Danya interrupted them. "Bobby!" she reprimanded "Leave your sister, don't you see she's hurt?" it was easy to figure out through her voice that she wasn't really mad, just worried instead.

He freed her and they entered the house, where they got to the living room; Annabeth sat in the same couch in which she'd been before, next to the book she'd been reading.

After getting Annabeth into the living room Danya raced into the kitchen to get a saucepan with water, a cloth, some bandages and a medical kit she kept for emergencies. She returned to the living room and sat next to her stepdaughter.

"Here, Annabeth" she said quietly. "Let me help you."

"I-I can do it alone" Annabeth replied, her voice strangled and shaky, confused by this uncommon attention. She took the saucepan and the cloth form Danya's hands slowly.

"Sure" she said, smiling awkwardly, almost ashamed.

Annabeth took the cloth in her left hand and tried to clean the wound, but she found that her hand was trembling. She couldn't think of asking for the help she'd just denied.

"Annabeth, let me help you" Danya said softly, taking Annabeth's hand in hers and retiring the cloth from it. She solwly started to clean the cut, but as soon as she touched the skin, Annabeth had to bite back a scream. "Easy, it's okay" she whispered. "It's okay."

She reached for alcohol and cotton in the first aid kit and cleaned the wound with it too. Annabeth bit her tongue and looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with everybody at all moments.

"I'm almost done, Annabeth, hold on" she whispered warmly. Annabeth couldn't help but notice how kind her voice was. For a moment . . . For a moment she even sounded like when she talked to her own children. But soon enough Annabeth remembered who she was and that dream came trembling down.

Danya dressed the wound tightly, in silence, and then stood up.

"Thank you" Annabeth murmured.

"Yeah" she said, brushing her hand against Annabeth's left cheek. She stepped back. Behind her, her husband and children looked around, waiting. An awkward silence formed around the family, with no-one really knowing what to do next.

Annabeth continued on the couch, her eyes glued to the ground, her hands on her lap. She felt utterly alone, as her parents and brothers looked at her critically.

It was Danya who finally broke that horrible silence. "We should, um, try to eat breakfast" she offered in a low voice. "Yes, that's a good idea" she said, more to herself than to the others. "Boys, come with me" she ordered, looking at Frederick's eyes and pointing Annabeth with her chin.

The kids looked from one of their parents to the other and then to their sister, confused. They wanted to ask what was going on, but the adults seemed so tense that they didn't dare. They followed their mother out of the room in silence.

When Frederick and Annabeth were left alone, the atmosphere seemed even tenser.

Frederick coughed. "Annabeth" he said insecurely "what you did out there, it was awesome." She simply nodded, her eyes still in the ground."I-I didn't even imagine you could do something like that" he continued. She nodded once more and that heavy silence from before came back.

"Thank you" she murmured after a while. "You saved my life."

Another pause and then. "I thought I would lose you right then" he replied quietly. "when I saw that thing so close to you.

"I thought that too" she whispered."

Neither knew what to do next. It was strange for them to be next to the other, talking. It almost seemed easier to just start fighting again, because talking about what they felt was simply too different and too unknown.

When he'd seen his daughter in Mount Temalpais he'd been surprised of her abilities at fighting, but part of that same surprise was seeing Artemis and the dracaenae, part of his surprise was seeing the monsters and everything that the mist didn't allow the mortals to see but that was there nevertheless.

But now, he'd seen a monster right in front of his very own house, a monster about to attack his three children.

When Annabeth had ran out of the house, pushing his wife and him out of the way he'd been confused and thought that she was mad and simply wanted to draw away from them.

But it wasn't that. She'd know there was something out there and she'd raced outside. She'd rushed into a fight to protect the very same brothers that she usually blamed for the complications she endured.

He'd been surprised by Annabeth's reaction. He knew his daughter was brave, brave and strong, but when he'd seen her there, trying to take down a six-meter beats with nothing but a dagger and no-one to cover her back, not letting fear cross her features, holding a twenty-centimeters knife tightly and with decision he was able for the first time to see the strong and beautiful woman his daughter was becoming. She'd looked so much like her mother, like Athena. So strong and fearless; so brave and decided.

He'd been so proud of her.

But now that the basilisk was dead, now that the fight was over and they were back into the house he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to tell how proud he felt, how wonderful she was.

Annabeth really didn't know what to do either.

Her father had entered a fight being a simple mortal against a monstrous beast with no other goal than to protect her.

She was thankful, she really was. She just didn't know how to tell her father that.

When she'd seen her stepbrothers in danger she hadn't even planned to step into the fight, she'd just ran to stop the basilisk from hurting her brothers. She had only been able to focus on the fact that there was no way she'd let that thing endanger those kids when it was really looking for her.

When her father had appeared, saving her, she'd been more than surprised.

Seeing him appear in Mount Temalpais with his Stopwith Camel, shooting monsters while shielded with an airplane was one thing, but seeing him appear with nothing but a simple sword about to interfere and challenge a huge monster just to protect her was completely different.

She wanted to tell him she was sorry, and to thank him for saving her. She just didn't know what to do.

She wasn't used to talk saying her true feelings, let alone talking with her father–she wasn't even used to be with him.

Fortunately, Danya interrupted their awkward silence.

"Frederick! Annabeth!" she said, with a loud voice. "Come eat something!"

Annabeth was the first one to stand up. "Thank you" she whispered when she walked pass him, hugging herself, her gray eyes glued to the floor. Frederick couldn't tell why she was thanking him for.

When the five of them were sitting at the table, Annabeth couldn't help but notice how both Bobby and Mathew seemed completely restored of the earlier incidents and were now playing and fighting again, as usual.

"Bobby! Mathew!" their mother scolded them. "Sit down and eat in silence!"

In the round table, Annabeth sat in the place she usually took when she was staying at her father's house. To her right, her father, to his right, Danya, to her right, Mathew, to his right, Bobby and finally, to his right, Annabeth.

Annabeth sat, her eyes glued to the scrambled eggs, stiffened. Both Frederick and Danya looked at each other uncomfortably as Mathew and Bobby turned at their parents, trying to find a clue to what to do.

"Mom" Mathew finally questioned. "What was that thing?"

"What thing?" she said, smiling awkwardly, faking she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Mom!" he complained. "The monster that appeared in the yard!"

Annabeth was the first to react. "What?" she said, raising her gaze for the first time since they'd entered the house. "Did you-" she stuttered "did you see it?" she asked.

"Of course I did, Annabeth!" he replied. "Didn't you?" Annabeth's jaw dropped open.

Annabeth and Frederick met gazes, completely surprise. Danya, unaware of the implications of what her son had just said, could only open her eyes and gasp for air.

"Exactly what did you see, Mathew?" Annabeth asked sternly.

"The same that you all saw!" he answered, as if it were something obvious.

"Mathew, answer your sister" Frederick ordered, stiffening.

"Well" he started "it was like a huge snake with yellow eyes and-"

"and green" Bobby completed, interrupting his brother. "A green snake with gigantic teeth."

"Wait" Frederick broke in. "You both saw a monster?"

"Yes!" they said at unison.

"What was that?" Mathew repeated, his voice having a note of frustration this time.

"A basilisk" Annabeth said under her breath.

"But you said that those monsters didn't exist" Bobby exclaimed, sending a glance to his mother.

"That's what I said" Danya accepted. "Frederick" she said with a pleading voice. "What does this mean?"

"They can see through the mist" he answered, not looking at her, but at Annabeth.

"What?" Danya asked.

"They see things as they really are" Annabeth seconded.

"What do you mean?" Danya questioned, even more confused.

"Danya" Annabeth said. "What did you see out there?"

"Um" she started "a man, maybe thirty, black suite, purple tie, not a monster. And at the beginning, you were holding a pen, then a dagger. And before it disappeared I was able to see that his fangs were slightly longer than normal, but just that."

"It was a basilisk" Annabeth stated quietly. "A huge snake-like six-meter long beast."

"Oh my god" Danya whispered.

"They see the truth" Frederick added.

"You can't see it, mom?" Bobby asked.

"No. I can't" she replied sternly.

"But you said those things didn't exist" Mathew complained.

"I lied" she offered. "Forget everything I said."

"But if you can't see them . . ." Bobby started.

"How do you explain that?" Mathew seconded.

"I . . . um, well . . ." she stuttered.

"Tell them" Annabeth whispered.

"What?" Frederick questioned, turning to look at her.

"Tell them" Annabeth repeated.

"What do you have to tell us, mom?" Mathew asked, and then to his father. "Dad?"

Frederick and Danya met gazes and nodded slowly. "Well" Frederick started "your sister has, um . . . some powers and . . ."

"Powers?" Bobby questioned.

"Boys" Danya interrupted, trying to help her husband. "Remember . . . remember those stories your father tells you before going to bed?" Annabeth couldn't help but notice with a tinge of pain how her father had never told stories to her, but she tried to push that thought away. The kids nodded.

"Well" Frederick continued nervously. "They're all real."

"And your sister, um" Danya tried. "She's . . ."

"The daughter of a Greek goddess" Frederick completed, with a shaky voice. "A demigod."

"What?" they both asked in unison. Bobby turned to look at his sister while Mathew questioned his parents with an interrogative gaze. Annabeth let her eyes fall to her plate again, trying to ignore everyone's gazes.

"Athena" she declared. "I'm the daughter of Athena."

"So that thing was an actual monster?" Mathew questioned.

"Yes" Frederick replied.

"But why didn't mom see it?" Bobby asked.

"Well" Frederick started "because she, um, she . . . "

"Because I'm a mortal" Danya said. "People that are not, um, like your sister, with em, divine-"

"Annabeth is not your daughter?" Bobby asked.

"No" Danya answered sternly. "Annabeth isn't my daughter." The demigod's hands turned into fists. She could almost hear the relief in her stepmother's voice.

"But she is our sister" Mathew stated more than asked.

"Yes she is" Danya replied. "But she isn't my daughter. She's your father's daughter. And Athena's, the Greek goddess'."

"Then why could we see that?" Mathew questioned.

"Some people, some mortals can do that" Frederick said. "The mist usually protects the ones that aren't demigods and makes them see only the things that they can explain with what they believe, like your mother. But some others, like you and me," he said, directing to both his sons "are born with the capacity to see through it."

"So you're saying all those monsters and gods of the stories really exist?" Bobby questioned.

"Well, you just saw it there, didn't you?" Annabeth said, a little more roughly than she had intended.

"It isn't the first time it happens" Bobby pointed out. "The other day I saw a young girl disappear into a tree."

"A nymph" Annabeth said tiredly.

"Yes, a nymph" Frederick nodded.

After that, the conversation felt to an awkward silence again.

"Annie?" Bobby called out timidly. "Are you really leaving after what happened?"

Annabeth's throat closed and she gripped her fork even more tightly, her eyes still on her plate. She cleared her throat. "Probably" she answered.

"But" Mathew started "that thing said it was looking for you."

"Exactly" Annabeth answered sternly. "It's dangerous for you if I stay."

"But isn't it dangerous for you, Annie?" Bobby asked innocently.

Annabeth's eyes suddenly turned glassy. She left the silverware down. "I know how to take care of myself" she said dryly; looking at her plate as she was, she missed the hurt expression in her father's face. She blinked the tears back.

"But Annie-" Bobby started to say

"It's dangerous for you if I stay" she said, breathing hardly. "All of you would be better off without me."

"Boys, please go upstairs" Danya commanded.

"But mother-" Mathew argued.

Danya sent them such a menacing glance that both stood and left the room rapidly.

"Annabeth" Frederick said, extending his left hand to reach his daughter's right, but she pulled it away. "You don't have to leave just because of that."

"Father" she replied, with an emotionless voice. "You know I'm right. There's no use in trying to cover the truth."

"Annabeth . . ." Danya whispered. "When I . . . when I married your father I knew he had a daughter. A beautiful and bright daughter for all I know" she said softly before pausing. Annabeth felt that the capacity to breathe suddenly left her body, her heart gripped tightly by a huge hand. "Before I gave him the 'yes' he told me who your mother was. I knew nothing about mythology. I always hated history class. And I ended up married to a history teacher" she said, rolling her eyes and trying to smile. "At first I thought he was crazy, but there are some things I can't deny, even if I can't see them" Danya bit her lower lip nervously.

Annabeth's vision became blurry with tears as her eyes were glassy again. Her hands had been in her lap, but she suddenly felt cold and raised her hands shakily to embrace herself.

"Annabeth" Danya whispered softly, her voice muffled by tears that had also reached her eyes. "I know I'm not your mother, I mean, she's a goddess and all, the wisdom goddess for more, but . . . if you ever" she sighed before continuing. "If you ever need someone, someone to be there for you, or someone to talk to . . . I'm willing to be that someone, Annabeth, really" she paused again, for a deep breath. "Annabeth, in the end it's your decision, but we'd like it if you chose to stay, we'd like it in true. And your brothers, too. They ask about you constantly and, well, if they really can see through that thing they'll need someone to explain them what they are seeing, and who better than you?" she asked, in a soft voice. "I believe, I know that you would make out a great older sister, if only you tried. You just saved their lives today, risking your own" she pointed out sheepishly.

"That thing was here for me in the first place" Annabeth interrupted harshly, suddenly mad, but still biting tears back.

"Annabeth . . ." she said with a pleading tone.

"Annabeth" Frederick called. "It's not your fault. How can you even say that?"

"If that thing was here for me then it's obviously my fault" Annabeth replied, her voice breaking a little at the end but still managing to sound harsh. She raised her left hand to dry her tears furiously.

"Annabeth . . ." Danya repeated, a tear falling down her cheek. "You never asked for this. How can you say something like that?" she bit her lip.

"Annabeth" Frederick said "you're the bravest girl I know. That was six-meter monster after all and you were not afraid to fight against it. You've probably done this a hundred times before" he coughed. "You've fought monsters on your own before. Always on your own, Annabeth" he emphasized. "You left when you were just a girl. If you hadn't met those demigods I don't know what could have happened to you" he paused, his hands turned into fists over the table. "I'm sorry for that, my daughter" he whispered. "I made you feel like you were alone when you were not. I'm sorry, Annabeth. I'm very sorry."

Silence fell over them again, but not an awkward one like the others. This one was one to pause and order their thoughts instead.

"Annabeth" Danya called softly. "I know that people back at that camp are waiting for you. People that love you and that you love back, people that you actually want to see but. . . but this is your home, and this is your family. We . . . we want you here, Annabeth." She finished with a gentle and warming voice.

Annabeth's arms tightened around her as she started trembling. A violent, dry sob climbed her throat, even as she tried to stop it, just like the burning tears in her eyes.

"Annabeth" Frederick said. "Take your decision based in what you feel, but we, all of us, would prefer it if you stayed" he paused, with a racing heart. "Take you decision wisely, my daughter" he concluded.

She nodded, swallowing hardly. "Thank you" she whispered as she stood up insecurely, heading to her room and trying as hard as she could to hide the crystal years that kept falling from her gray eyes and that she wasn't able to stop.

When she left, Danya reached for her husband's hand and squeezed it in her own. They met gazes.

"She'll choose the best, Frederick" she said gently. "We just have to trust her."

She ran to her room, slamming the door shut and collapsing in her bed, trying to muffle her sobs with a pillow.

"Athena" she called trough her whimpering. "I don't know what to do. I left and I came back, just for leaving again, but now I'm here on a new account. I don't know what to do, Athena" she sobbed. "I thought Percy was right and that I should try to come back with them, but each time I'm here, I wish to be at the camp, and when I'm at the camp I find myself feeling that I should be here. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm sorry" she said. "I'm sorry if I disappointed you, but sometimes I wished you would just tell me what you expect."

She continued crying for more than she could remember, clinging to her pillow in a desperate tentative to find some comfort in the physical touch, but finding none.

She cried herself to sleep, drifting off slowly as her tears finally stopped. Two days in a row, that was a new record.

It was different from yesterday's sleep because this time she dreamt something.

At first, she was alone and everything around her was pitch darkness. Suddenly, to her right, a light appeared. She could tell it was not electricity, because it wasn't constant. It seemed like a fire, a beautiful and welcoming orange-and-red fire.

It was dangerous to near something when she couldn't see anything, but Chiron always said it was better to keep moving, even if she didn't know where she was heading.

She started moving towards the only light she could see with a racing heart, breathing hardly through her mouth.

She tried to reach for a weapon, but was surprised she found she had no dagger or any other thing to protect herself. In case this was a trap, she was going to fall right into it.

She continued walking, trying to move stealthy, but there was nothing to be heard, and she was making no noise as she walked.

After a while, the light became clearer, along with two couches and a small chimney. The fire that burnt seemed warm and peaceful, with big, welcoming flames that danced gracefully.

She blinked, and when she opened her eyes again there was a woman sitting in the couch from the left. She had shoulder-long brown hair that sent beautiful highlights as she knitted something, her eyes concentrated in the elegant movements of her delicate fingers.

On the other couch laid a sword, a bow, three arrows and a shield that shinned with the movement of the flames.

"You came after all" the woman said, still busy with her weave.

Annabeth turned around, trying to find who the woman was talking to, but there was no-one else.

"No, it's with you, girl" she said, not turning to look at the demigod.

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked.

"Um." The woman grimaced. "Such a shame no-one ever recognizes me" she finally raised her gaze, allowing Annabeth to see her beautiful teal eyes. "I'm Hestia, goddess of home" she answered as she broke the eye contact and continued weaving.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, sending nervous glances, first to the weapons and then to the woman that claimed to be Hestia.

She denied, moving her head to the sides and accommodated a lock of hair behind her ear.

Suddenly, from behind of her appeared a huge, elegant owl. The beautiful and fluent movements of the bird's wings sent wind blasts that made the flames swirl gently.

The huge, elegant bird continued to fly until it landed on Hestia's left shoulder. Both looked at the girl strictly. She felt intimidated by their gazes.

Suddenly, the owl set off again, its intelligent gray eyes focused on Annabeth's, flying straight at her.

She wasn't scared. She knew that the bird wouldn't hurt her.

She woke up with a scream, gasping violently for air. She looked around frantically, expecting the huge animal to suddenly appear again, but she was alone, alone in her room. «Alone» she repeated to herself.

Her heart was pounding, as she continued to look around nervously.

Her eyes went to settle on the drawer, next to her dressing table. The drawers were empty since she'd taken the clothes out in the morning.

She saw the old picture of the Parthenon that she kept in a silver frame on the dressing table. The Parthenon, a Greek temple constructed between 447 and 438 a. C dedicated to the goddess of wisdom, Athena. Her mother.

"Athena" she muttered under her breath. She shakily stood up and neared the furnishing, slowly taking the picture in her hands. "You answered" she mumbled.

She raised her left hand to put a lock of her blonde her behind her ear, unconsciously mimicking Hestia's gesture.

"The goddess of home" she whispered. "Do you want me to stay?" she asked, almost stating, looking at the picture she gripped. The silver frame started shinning.

Downstairs, she heard the noise of laughter and silverware clashing with the plates. She took a deep breath.

"Alright" she said, turning to look at the image the mirror reflected. "You win. I'll stay."

Slowly, she put the picture down, back in its place.

"Where is she?" Frederick asked sternly.

"Relax, Frederick" Danya said gently. "She's probably just in her room" she offered, but then she grimaced. "If she didn't run away again" she finished, sighing.

A tense silence followed Danya's words.

In that moment, the steps of someone walking down the stairs were heard.

"I didn't" Annabeth said nervously. "I'm here."

"Oh, Annabeth" Danya said, pleasantly surprised. "Come eat something" she offered as she gestured for the table. Annabeth nodded shyly, realizing there were five services placed over the table. She smiled softly.

She couldn't even recall walking through the hall or down the stairs, she simply found herself in front of her family, their earlier conversation stopped.

Danya sent a menacing glance to her children, warning them about making any comment about their sister.

She indeed looked pretty bad, her blonde hair disheveled and out of the ponytail she'd been wearing in the morning, her eyes red and swollen from crying, with her blood-stained shirt and that bandage around her arm.

She awkwardly took a seat as the atmosphere tensed up.

Frederick coughed. "So, Annabeth" he called. "Do I have to suppose you're leaving tomorrow?" he asked, pointing at her suitcases, that were still in the living room.

She suddenly became nervous and started breathing hardly. "Yeah . . ." she started. "About that. . ." she anxiously began playing with her fingers. "I think I'll have to Iris-message Chiron. I'm . . . I'm not leaving" she finished, raising her eyes. "If your offer is still standing."

"Of course it's still standing!" Frederick said, with the beginning of a smile in his lips.

"Oh, Annabeth" Danya seconded, and for the first time, Annabeth was able to identify genuine affection in her voice. Maybe she'd been too hard on her after all. "That's great!"

"Athena believes I should stay and I . . . I really don't want to go." She whispered.

"You talked with your mother?" Frederick asked.

"Kind of" she replied. "I dreamt of an owl. Who else uses owls?"

"Well, I don't know" he said. "Sanborns?" Annabeth let a smile cross her features and she dared to look up.

"Are you staying?" Bobby asked excitedly.

"You aren't going back to the camp?" Mathew seconded.

She denied by moving her head to the sides. "Nope. I'm staying."

"We're glad you chose that" Danya said, smiling warmly at her stepdaughter.

"Danya . . ." Annabeth called out, the nervousness back in her voice. "You're . . . you're great, really. I'm . . ." she sighed. Gods, she was so prideful. She paused, playing with her fingers. "I'm sorry if I was disrespectful or too hard on you. It's probably going to sound ridiculous because you've been married to my father for years but" she paused again, not able to finish. She really was so prideful she thought as she started talking again, very fast this time "but I . . . I probably just need time to accept you" she said. "Will you be able to forgive me?" she finished, raising her eyes to look at her, biting her lower lip.

"Annabeth, dear" she whispered, smiling fondly at her "there's nothing to forgive." she paused, before continuing. "I probably wasn't the best either. Can you forgive that?" she asked, her brown eyes looking straight at Annabeth's.

"That's nothing" Annabeth replied, returning the smile.

"Well" Frederick interrupted. "I think that I have a couple of things to learn from a girl that killed the Minotaur." He said, smiling.

"Percy killed the Minotaur" Annabeth explained, smiling softly too. "I did the fighting with Polyphemus."

"Plyphemos?" Mathew asked excitedly. "The Cyclops?"

"The one and only" Annabeth replied.

"But" Frederick said "unless I'm mistaken that's Percy's half-brother, isn't he?"

"Yup" Annabeth nodded. "Just like another Cyclops, Tyson."

"Wait" Danya said, suddenly remembering the demigods that had visited her house shortly after they'd first moved to San Francisco. "Wasn't Percy the one who came to talk to you, Frederick? Son of the Three Big, blue eyes?"

"Big Three" Annabeth corrected "but yes, that's him. And his eyes are green." She pointed.

"Is he your boyfriend, Annabeth?" Mathew inquired, with a mischievous smile in his lips. Annabeth's jaw dropped open.

"W-what?" she asked, blushing furiously. "Of course he's not!"

"Yes he is!" Mathew teased.

"Your face is red!" Bobby hummed mockingly.

"He isn't– Percy´s not–!" Annabeth tried to fend herself. "Fa-father! Tell them he is not my boyfriend!"

"Oh, I don't know, Annabeth" he said, with a playful smile in his lips. "You tell them."

"I don't like him!" she yelled. "He's-he's the most mist-blinded demigod I've ever met!" She said nervously. "Can you believe it? I mean, he was a whole year with that Cyclops and he thought he was just an abnormally tall boy! That day I swear I thought he was a complete fool! A whole year! Can you even imagine? " She said, rolling her eyes but smiling. "I dare to bet that if he'd been here this morning he would have thought that the monster from outside was nothing but a girl!" She concluded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"A girl?" Danya asked, smiling with humor. "That's even worse than me!"

"Yup, that's Percy Jackson" Annabeth replied. "Clumsy, clueless, a complete idiot and–"

"And your boyfriend" Mathew interrupted, grinning at her with faked innocence.

"I told you he was not!" Annabeth turned to her father, but both Danya and Frederick denied smiling innocently.

In the end, the five of them started laughing.

Finally, Annabeth felt comfortable with them and ironically, that feeling of familiarity had come after they started teasing her. Finally, the five of them were together, smiling. Finally, the only missing piece of the Chase family was back in its place.


End file.
